Football, volleyball and badminton players call for a rethink of the Sobell Leisure Centre plans

HUNDREDS of five-a-side footballers will be forced out of the Sobell Leisure Centre after Town Hall chiefs refused to re­consider plans that will see half the courts turned into a trampoline park.

More than 35 football groups, some established more than 40 years ago, will be turfed out of the centre in Hornsey Road with less space expected for badminton, aerobics and volleyball clubs.

The centre, run by Greenwich Leisure Ltd (GLL), trading under Better, a non-profit organisation which runs over 250 leisure centres in the UK, took over management of the council-owned site following a long bidding war in 2014.

Work on the trampoline park was planned to start in April but was delayed until after next month’s general ­election because the centre is used for counting votes.

Celia Clarke, who has played football at the Sobell for 26 years, said: “Playing at Sobell we meet other footballers as well as other athletes and we add to our pool of players this way. You’ve got a core group of members, incredibly loyal for a number of years, but that doesn’t seem to carry any weight or have any value whatsoever.

“Honestly, the way we were treated by GLL was quite breathtaking in its lack of respect.”

In an open email to Islington Council, written on behalf of campaigners fighting the park, centre user Tamsin Oglesby said long-time users were not told about the planned changes by GLL until after the park was approved by the Town Hall.

She also listed concerns which had not been addressed by GLL or the council, including the unsuitability of alternative sporting venues recommended by GLL, the impact of the trampolines on the timbre flooring installed by Sport England in 2011 for practising volleyball Olympians, and where the expected extra visitors to the centre will park their cars.

In an email response to Ms Oglesby, seen by the Tribune, Councillor Janet Burgess, Islington’s adult social services and public health chief, said the Town Hall would not review the decision.

She wrote: “One of the Olympic legacy goals is to improve participation in physical activity – particularly for young people. The trampoline park is expected to attract double the number of visitors and groups, including schools and local families, from a wider variety of backgrounds.

“[A total of] 96 per cent of customers are continuing their activity. This does not account for the thousands of new customers who will benefit from the introduction of the trampoline park.”

Cllr Burgess said councillors were told about the plans in the budget report and “directly contacted” on March 31 about the changes.

But John Barber, 55, whose Thursday night 5-aside football club has been turfed out after over 40 years at the centre, said this was “utter nonsense”. He said information about the trampoline park was only mentioned in one short paragraph of a long budget report passed by the council in February while the building contract for installing the trampoline was signed before March 31.

Mr Barber said a councillor, who wishes to remain anonymous, told him the Town Hall was counting on the predicted £200,000 increase in annual revenue from the trampoline park to balance the budget following cuts from central government.

He said the alternative, GLL-run venue recommended by the company, Holloway School sports hall, is unsuitable for indoor football with its mainly concrete floor which doesn’t offer shock absorption.

“[The move] is going to kill off a lot a lot of regular football groups of old guys and girls,” he said.

“The bottom line is, it’s money for GLL and money for the council”

Councillor Paul Convery, who prevented the demolition of the Sobell centre in 2010, said he was sympathetic towards the footballers but the council needed the income from the trampoline park to avoid cutting other vital services.